Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to devices for supporting surgical drains or catheters in a manner that allows them to be secured to a patient's body, thereby preventing the surgical drains or catheters from being pulled loose from their points of attachment to a person's body.
Related Art
In some instances, after surgical a procedure is performed on a patient, or after placement of a catheter in a patient, it is necessary to provide a device to assist in the removal of fluids from the patient's body. This is especially true in the case of surgical procedures that involve the removal of tissue, such as mastectomies or lumpectomies. The use of a surgical drain allows the fluids to exit the patient's body, thereby reducing swelling and infection that may result from the presence of the fluids in the body. It may be necessary to use more than one surgical drain, depending upon the circumstances of a particular case.
A surgical drain typically includes a drainage tube that extends from the surgical field within the patient's body, through the surrounding tissue, exiting the body through a surgical incision. Fluid that accumulates within the patient's body flows into a first end of the drainage tube that is positioned within the surgical field. The fluid flows through the drainage tube and into a reservoir that is attached to the second end of the drainage tube. Commonly, the reservoir is a flexible vacuum bulb that maintains a slight vacuum within the drainage tube and thereby facilitates the flow of fluids from the body, through the drainage tube and into the reservoir. Depending upon the amount of fluid that is expected to be accumulated, it may be necessary to use multiple surgical drains to remove the fluid.
The drainage tube is commonly attached to the body with one or more stitches near the surgical incision through which the drainage tube exits the patient's body. This is intended to help secure the drainage tube and to help prevent it from being pulled out of the patient's body. This arrangement is, however, very delicate, and it is not uncommon for these stitches to be pulled loose by an unsecured fluid reservoir. It is therefore important to provide support for the surgical drain (particularly the fluid reservoir) in order to prevent the stitches and/or the surgical drain from being pulled out of the patient's body.
The drainage reservoirs typically have a small piece of material (e.g., a loop) which extends from the reservoir to allow it to be supported. Conventionally, this loop of material is attached to the patient's clothing (a gown, for example) by a safety pin. While this does allow the drainage reservoir to be supported somewhat, the drainage reservoir may still move quite a bit, particularly when the reservoir is pinned to the type of open gown that is commonly worn by a patient in a hospital environment. It is not unusual for the drainage reservoir to be able to move sufficiently to tug on the drainage tube, causing discomfort to the patient and possibly tearing the stitches and/or pulling the tube from the patient's body.
The pinning of the drainage reservoir to the patient's clothing may also be an unsatisfactory solution in some situations, such as when the patient needs to take a shower. Obviously, it would be difficult for the patient to clean himself or herself while wearing a hospital gown in the shower. Often, patients are expected to simply hold the drainage reservoirs while they clean themselves. Showering with only one hand is clearly awkward and inefficient, and may also be dangerous if the patient slips or needs to support himself/herself in the shower.
It would therefore be desirable to provide improved means for supporting drain reservoirs so that the comfort and safety of the patient is improved.